Fire destroys Dotson's, a popular Glen Burnie bar

Firefighters were alerted about 4:30 a.m. to a building fire at 7328 Furnace Branch Road East and found heavy smoke and fire rising from the second floor when they arrived about 10 minutes later.

The roof of Dotson's Live, which occupied the second floor, collapsed, and it took about 50 firefighters about 90 minutes to get the blaze under control, said Lt. Russ Davies, a Fire Department spokesman.

No one was reported injured in the fire.

The businesses on the first floor - an auto body shop and beauty parlor - suffered smoke and water damage, Davies said.

The bar is a total loss, Davies said, and fire officials are investigating the cause.

Owned by Eleanor Dotson and Darryl Jones, a recently elected County Council member, Dotson's Live has been in operation since 1928.

Local officials often passed through, hosting events and greeting the regulars, most of whom were African-Americans, Jones said.

"The bar is a historic landmark for blacks in the county - everyone went there for generations," Jones said. "It was a stopping point, and you could just come there and be who you are and be with some real people."